American Gangster (imdb) >This is a tough one for me to decide upon, but I'm going to have to go with a "yellow light". First the positives... As Always Denzel Washington was great. I also liked Russell Crowe, but his performance wasn't anything special really. Short list of positives...
Negatives... It was a LONG movie! (about 2 hours and 40 min). The editing REALLY bothered me... it used a lot of short edits and cut back and forth between the two main character's story lines. At one point it was almost like I was watching two separate movies at home on my TV by flipping back and forth among two channels. But I think its biggest failure is that it took what I think was an amazing story, and just churnned it into a typical "cops and robbers" movie. In the final moments of the movie there were some typed out updates (like every other movie that is based on real life events) and they were some amazing stats! I think it said that at it's time this bust brought down Two-Thirds of a bunch of corrupt cops in NYC. 2/3!!
I also did not like the whole subject matter of the corrupt cops and really nasty people selling drugs. It is very depressing to me to know that this stuff goes on on a daily basis.
I know I'm sounding kinda harsh on this film, but that's because I think it could have been so much better. I kinda hope Denzel gets an Oscar for this one though.
Can Mr. Smith Get To Washington Anymore? (imdb)>I just finished watching this documentary this afternoon. I really liked this film. It was about this guy named "Jeff Smith" who in 2004 came outta nowhere and decided to run for congress. It was a real look into how a grassroots campaign gets started, and at the same time it talks a little (well maybe a lot) about Jeff's political views. But really it's a film about the true underdog story... a guy with no political background goes up against a long standing family name who has lots of money. If nothing else, this movie introduced me to a guy who I will now really admire for doing what he did. Jeff seemed to be a really honest and stand-up guy who wasn't afraid to work for what he believed in. It also helped me to understand a little more as to how this political system works. In fact, this movie motivated me to finally take a stand in what I believe in with the upcoming presidential race. I will be supporting Kucinich from now on. I just went to his website and will look into what I can do to help out. I'm going to tread lightly as I am still new to all this political stuff, but when I saw how this guy (Jeff Smith) had a real shot at making a difference and all it takes is for people to not just vote for the same status quo, I will not make that mistake next time at the polls. I'm going to vote for who I believe best represents my views at the moment. He may be a long shot, statistically speaking he probably won't win, but I'm so tired of the status quo that for my peace of mind I'll know I stood up for what I believe and voted accordingly.
The movie is a "red envelope prodution" which means it was produced by NETFLIX. I don't know how they work this, I suspect that means that this dvd is only available for those of use who subscribe to netflix. But if you can find this movie, I highly recommend it.
I'll also keep my eyes and ears open in the future if Jeff Smith ever makes it to a position where he might represent me, I'll vote for him :)
Oh, and it was also very interesting to see how many young people were involved with Jeff's campaign!
1 comment:
Nice Review on your blog. Just keep up the good work and hope to see more interesting review in your blog.
Post a Comment